Long known as one of Africa's great beach destinations, a new generation of Sierra Leoneans is eager to show visitors that the formerly war-torn nation is now safe and reintroduce it to the world.
Sitting in the shade of a palm tree on Tokeh Beach, one of Sierra Leone's many postcard-worthy, white-sand waterfronts, Peter Momoh Bassie told me his story. "I am not ashamed to say I was part of the rebels because I was captured by force," he said, looking out over the emerald-coloured water. "I never killed anyone," he added.
Stories like Bassie's abound in Sierra Leone, a small nation in West Africa with more than 300km of coastline sandwiched between Guinea and Liberia. The country's 11-year civil war that ended in 2002 killed more than 50,000 people and displaced 2.6 million more. The rebels captured Bassie when he was just 11 years old. He was held captive for six years, managing to escape – and get caught again – three times.
Today, Bassie works as a tour guide for Tourism Is Life, one of many Sierra Leonean travel companies eager to show the world that the nation is now safe and introduce visitors to its many rainforests, beaches and rich cultural experiences.
Retelling stories like these is at the heart of what Bimbola Carrol does. Twenty years ago he founded VSL Travel after seeing mostly negative coverage of his country. "I felt that if we were looking to get back on our feet, we needed to show people another side of Sierra Leone," he told me.
Today, Carrol organises a range of trips: to the small village of Rogbonko in the Northern Province where travellers can stay in thatched-roof huts with the local community, or to the Western Peninsula near Freetown to spot the white-necked rockfowl, one of Africa's rarest and most peculiar birds. "Everyone who comes to Sierra Leone falls in love with our nation," said Carrol. "We are lagging behind other countries, but the world is starting to take note. For me, that is cause to be optimistic about the future."